John Markell must go
by Aaron Stollar
“The chances of me keeping my job are about this big.”Warning: This following post is extremely obscure, especially to my friends/family who have no connection with The Ohio State University or its Men’s Hockey Program.
In the wake of this weekend’s disgraceful CCHA Playoff First Round Defeat to lower-seeded Northern Michigan, I have finally reached wits end with one man, one excessively-tanned man.
That man is John Markell… The OSU hockey coach.
Much in the manner of our Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence… please allow me to list my grievances against Mr. Markell.
- We have had our last two seasons ended early in the CCHA Tournament by D-III schools that under almost any circumstance, OSU should beat at any time, in any sport.
- Our roster has been in flux with players leaving early (Montgomery) or struggling with grades (Keserich and Montgomery)
- He ended last season with a 1 win in ten games collapse
- He has languished, Norv-like, at this university for nearly 13 seasons, winning a grand total of one trophy and a .480 winning percentage
- A program that used to be considered on the cusp joining the CCHA royalty of UM and MSU is now an also ran again
- He has allowed us to fall to second in terms of Ohio hockey programs behind Miami
- When we did qualify for the NCAA Tournament three-years running, we a scored grand total of two goals, crashing out in the first round each time.
- Nearly five years out from the CCHA Tournament title, it’s clear that no long-term gain was made from that
- Markell always appears to have just taken a belt-sander as a suppository behind the bench, only occasionally showing some passion to whimper at a referee or weep after losing at home to another CHA or Atlantic Hockey minnow
- His staff has admitted reading the USCHO message boards about him and his team
- He has bitched-out reporters about their use of adjectives… John – you coach, we’ll write.
- He has the charisma of a dead halibut, not terribly helpful when the program is starving for attention
- He has in the past, matched his tie and shirt to his inexplicably bronzed complexion and hair
Other grievances emailed in include:
- He and his staff appear to believe that OSU are the victim of some vast refereeing conspiracy.
I am sorry John, your time has passed.
Gene Smith, if you want to show the College Hockey world that you have any kind of commitment to this program doing anything other than hemorrhaging your money – he must be fired.
aaron – a bit surpised when i saw your post. you used to cover my kids lacrosse games in virginia; but i do remember you as a buckeye fan. all i can say is i sympathize with you and Go RedHawks! P.S. I hope your new position is good.
Wow! I remember to you on the radio a few years ago and you were defending Markell against a few folks who wanted him gone then. Times change and I can’t say I disagree with you on this, but I’m still a little surprised at the vehemence, BTW – I still miss hearing you and Neil doing the games on student radio.
[...] to keep that momentum going, Coach Bluem. I guess he went to the John Markell School of OSU Program Development, motto: “Where Better Results Lead to Worse Players.” [...]
I must concur wholeheartedly that Coach Markell must go. I have decades under the belt of following OSU hockey and am appalled that even the most basic fundamentals are overlooked by John’s coaching style which is never attack, dump and chase rarely getting to the puck first, always drop back when you could attack and line change when your teammates need your support most, and oh yeah, spend half your power plays trying in vain to set up the perfect shot only to usually turn the puck over. His total lack of any kind of relationship with his players or their parents and the convoluted style he teaches gets back to his player’s friends and family members still playing in the junior leagues giving OSU a bad reputation on where to go to play college hockey. Not that OSU doesn’t get good players, they do, but not in the quantity they should have given all OSU has to offer hampered only by the reputation of it’s coach. I could go on in greater detail but I don’t want to hijack another’s thread.